Jeremy Balfour quit the Scottish Conservatives and will sit as an independent until the Holyrood election in May. Balfour criticized the party as having fallen into reactionary politics under Russell Findlay and raised concerns about inexperienced advisers and senior MSPs being ignored. The resignation reduces the party to 29 MSPs and is the second departure since the Conservatives lost power at Westminster and Findlay became leader; Jamie Greene defected to the Liberal Democrats in April. Findlay has pledged tax and spending cuts for the 2026 Holyrood election and vowed to "wield a claymore" on wasteful spending. Balfour warned that blind slashing of welfare budgets would place those most in need at highest risk and accused the party of prioritizing rural areas over cities.
In his resignation letter, the Lothians MSP said: "Increasingly, decisions seem to be made by advisers who lack experience, while senior MSP colleagues are ignored." The Scottish Conservatives said they were "disappointed" by Balfour's comments, but wished him well. Balfour's resignation leaves the party with 29 MSPs. He is the second MSP to leave since the Tories lost power at Westminster and Findlay became Scottish leader in September last year. West of Scotland MSP Jamie Greene defected from the Tories to the Liberal Democrats
Findlay has promised to offer tax and spending cuts at the 2026 Holyrood election, saying he would "wield a claymore" on wasteful spending if elected. Balfour said he did not believe the party was interested in tackling welfare reform "beyond blind slashing of budgets" which he said "will put those in most need at highest risk". In his resignation letter, seen by BBC Scotland News, the MSP also accused the party of focusing on rural areas "at the expense of our cities".
Collection
[
|
...
]